Google’s paid search ads have gotten pricier in the US, with costs per click (CPCs) rising across retail product categories in Q3 2021.

We forecast search ad revenue growth of 28.8% in 2022, to $22.41 billion. Incredibly, this will represent a kind of fall to earth; Amazon’s search ad business has grown an average of 89% annually over the past five years. In 2022, Amazon will account for slightly more than one-fifth of the search advertising market.

Retail search ad products are bottom-of-the-funnel tactics, one click away from many purchases. Amazon Ads leads in this regard, but Walmart Connect is also aggressively marketing search ad products in Canada. “Near me” searches on mobile are helping to push search marketing forward.

Apple's Search Ads are growing in importance as a revenue source for the company—yet they rely very little on targeting, and personalization doesn’t yield better conversion rates, according to a presentation to advertising clients obtained by 9to5Mac.

In both Germany and France, outlays are greater for search ads than for digital display ads. But display is gaining momentum in Germany and will likely overtake search in 2026. Germany’s advertisers will invest €8.92 billion ($10.55 billion) in mobile ads in 2022—nearly three-quarters of all digital ad spending.

Given that most Latin American countries’ ad markets came online during the age of social media, search advertising has historically taken a back seat to display. That’s all starting to change as the region’s retail ecommerce boom drives advertisers to take a closer look at search to help influence consumers’ purchase decisions at the beginning of the buyer journey.

Although we could not obtain concrete dollar amounts for retail media search ad spending in Latin America, anecdotal evidence from the executives we interviewed indicated that search ad formats represented over 80% of all retail media ad buys last year. It will continue to make up the bulk of outlays this year but will increasingly cede its dominant share of the market to display.

Nearly every country in the world will see slower growth in total ad spending and digital ad spending than it did last year, but the comparison is an unfair one because 2021 was abnormal. The outlook is mostly bright.

Retail media has revolutionized the search ad market, where most of the focus still is. But display and video ads that target consumers higher in the funnel are becoming a more important part of the mix, and technological innovation is ushering in new ad products that bring together the best of branding and the best of performance marketing.

China’s total media ad spending and digital ad spending will both grow at their lowest rates since we began tracking them in 2012, but the ad industry is nonetheless set for an eventful year in the world’s second-largest market.

After all, these companies can’t afford to lose ground to their competitors, so it’s in their best interest to make full use of display, video, and search ads across mobile, desktop, and CTV platforms. Key Takeaways. Digital ad spending in the media and entertainment industries is back on solid footing.